non-generic material selection causes profiles to show "not supported"

[Longtoke 25]

Hi all, first time poster here, long time 3D printer user with an issue.....my OCD is hurting bad. 

 

I recently updated Cura when I built a new PC. Being a fresh install, I didn't back-up any settings etc....which i now instantly regret, though the research I've done indicates this is an issue related to changes with Cura from around V4.4 onward, that having a back-up of my settings wouldn't have solved anyway.

 

My issue ?....using custom materials ( filaments ) or even any of the non-generic listed filaments ( e.g: eSUN filaments ) locks out the default profiles from the print settings selection. I.E: the slider bar for selecting between the default print quality/resolution profiles (0.12-0.16-0.2-0.28)  gets locked out, requiring me to configure everything from scratch. Yes, i can setup custom profiles and use them from the drop down selection box, but the slider selection is greyed out and it displays "not supported"......hence the OCD flare up. 

 

I have tried creating new filament in the materials using the defaults as a template via the "duplicate" function, and still nothing from the slider bar, and it still displays "not supported"

 

Why am I not just using the generic materials ? ..... I use a PLA+ which has slightly higher temp requirements than the generic PLA. Now I am aware I can control the temps etc from the sub-options available under the materials tab of the print settings > custom, which i can then save as a custom profile, but that still doesn't allow it to be selected using the slider. I can't save my alterations to the default profiles either ( though to be expected ...somewhat ) as they are obviously default settings. The problem this presents is one miss click from my kids ( I have 2 teenage sons who seem intent on driving me crazy by changing settings on everything constantly ) and my settings ( more precisely, temps ) get nuked back to default parameters. I thus find myself having to use the slider to select my default print quality, then check and alter my temps to suit the PLA+ im using, followed by a further tweek of other settings factoring in the object i'm printing ( like support parameters ).

 

Admittedly, the version of Cura I was using without issue for a long while was V2.xxx or something, but having never had cause to update it until recently, hence the issue i'm now having. 

 

TL;DR - how can I setup print profiles to suit my PLA+ and 0.4mm nozzle, while still being able to use the quick selector bar to flick between them, also removing the "not supported" message OR is there a way to modify the "generic" filament and print profiles and then save them as the default ( thus bypassing the lack of functionality surrounding custom materials and profiles ).

 

My printers are an Ender 3 ( with updated marlin V2.0 firmware ), a Prussia i3 ( stock ) and soon about to add an Ender CR10S Pro. 

The Filament i'm using is from 3D Fillies - PLA+ ( pretty standard 1.75mm diameter, 1kg roll, approx 333 meters long, density of 1.25g cm3 ).

[ahoeben 2,047]

"Not supported" means there are no (supported) premade profile for the combination of printer and material. It does not mean you can't print with the combination. Just set the settings you intend to use and proceed as normal.

[Longtoke 25]

On 7/16/2020 at 4:45 PM, ahoeben said:

"Not supported" means there are no (supported) premade profile for the combination of printer and material. It does not mean you can't print with the combination. Just set the settings you intend to use and proceed as normal.

 

yup, I understand that but....

 

That doesn't explain why simply switching from a generic material to say eSun PLA+ ( which is apparently supported as it's in the default material list ) also brings about the removal of the standard default print profiles and quick selection slider. This then requires a completely custom profile to be setup ( going through numerous exhaustive options and settings ) with a persistent "not-supported" message on display and no quick selection slider for profiles being available thereafter. I have tried to make my own profiles and materials, but there is no way to copy across the default profiles and have them retain the same functionality and similarly with material "duplicate" function, the associated profiles disappear bringing about the same problems. 

 

To put it simply - there seems to be missing links between materials and print profiles just because i'm using a non-generic listed material, and there is no way to configure the custom or non-generic but default listed materials with the profiles to ensure the quick select slider and default profiles are still available to use. 

 

Bonus question - when / what changed to make this so convoluted compared to the much earlier version of Cura I was using without issue ?. At this stage I think reverting to the last version before these profile / materials issues came about may well be my easiest fix. 

[Longtoke 25]

an update after having fired up my new cr10s.

 

Looks like no matter the printer profile, selection of non-generic materials causes all the print profiles to "wipe"....doesn't matter if i choose a default listed material ( i.e. - eSun PLA+ ) or make my own material parameters, the end result is "not supported" constantly displayed and the removal of the quick select slider and default print profiles. 

 

While I respect the multitude of printers out there making it impossible for the Cura devs to accommodate EVERY printer out there, this is not a printer profile issue, that's just how the problem manifests itself. While i can understand these issues if you made a custom material profile, surely selecting default listed materials shouldn't cause these issues ?

 

Here's hoping a fix comes in a later version of Cura, in the mean time if someone can clarify which version of Cura brought this awful change into to existence so I can work out which earlier version of Cura I need to grab, that would be awesome 😄

 

Cheers. 

[ahoeben 2,047]

The creality printer definitions - like the Ultimaker printer definitions by the way - is configured to have different quality profiles per material. If there is an "unknown" material, there are no quality profiles to choose from, and this is what Cura shows. A quality profile is much more than a choice of layer heights.

 

The alternative to having different quality profiles per material in Cura is to have one set of profiles for all materials.

 

If there is no set of quality profiles to choose from, Cura shows you the bare defaults of all settings. You can still adjust these, and the settings you enter will be used.

 

To print with eSun PLA+ with PLA profiles, the simples way is to make a copy of the material and change the material type from PLA+ to PLA.

[Longtoke 25]

21 hours ago, ahoeben said:

........To print with eSun PLA+ with PLA profiles, the simples way is to make a copy of the material and change the material type from PLA+ to PLA.

 

OMFG Thank You !!!!!

 

This work around solved my immediate issues with the print profiles dropping !......but this now raises more questions lol. 

 

I've done as you described but used a "duplicate" of the generic PLA material profile, and this is where it gets really weird. I can now configure the temps for the PLA+ i'm using via the materials, and selection of my "custom" material list doesn't nuke the default profiles nor the quick select slider.

 

The odd thing is, if i relabel either the material type field OR the display name field, it instantly drops the profiles and slider again. So in conclusion, could this be a bug ?? or is their some reason for it still nuking everything. I would have thought the process of setting up and defining a custom material would allow exactly the same functionality I regardless of a token name choice. It's almost like there's some hidden parameters that are tied to the name fields ? 

 

Just seems really bizarre that changing ONLY a name field ( displayed name OR material type name ) is enough to remove functionality. We're talking about the difference of a "+" symbol in a name field altering default functionality. I.E; if i label either as just "PLA", everything works great, the moment I change either field to "PLA+" it nukes everything in the print profiles. If this is intended to function like this, can I ask why/what benefit this brings as I prefer to understand rather than just blindly step forward. 

 

Regardless, I can deal with the displayed name / material type name missing a "+" symbol, as the brand name of the filament is enough for me to quickly recognize my material is set correctly. I will experiment and figure out if i can word this better/understand why it's like this and report back later. 

 

Thanks again 😄

 

p.s. - you've done an old bloke a huge favor in preventing his millennial children screwing with his mind, so double bonus i guess....i don't have to dig through my settings every time and a couple of millennials have been blocked from their usual. 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Longtoke
p.s.

[poshporcupine 1]

Beyond the workaround of copying the profile and editing and removing the + listed above, has any progress been made on this issue?  This seems like a massive bug to be around since July...  As someone new to 3d printing and new to Cura it's just confusing, I was getting close to abandoning Cura due to this issue.

[Cuq 208]

Perhaps you should post one of your curaprofil to help people to understand your issue with invalid profile

[Longtoke 25]

On 11/30/2020 at 6:15 AM, poshporcupine said:

Beyond the workaround of copying the profile and editing and removing the + listed above, has any progress been made on this issue?  This seems like a massive bug to be around since July...  As someone new to 3d printing and new to Cura it's just confusing, I was getting close to abandoning Cura due to this issue.

 

To update this thread post and as a reply to your question, as far as I understand this issue, its due to the way Cura is structured and related to material  profiles. Early on there was a phase were you could do custom materials without  restriction, this was later identified by Cura devs to be a mistake apparently, so they changed it to how it is now. 

 

AFAIK, there are no plans to make material profiles more flexible or give similar functionality to what we had, the best solution is to use work arounds or stick to default materials. 

[rcfocus 0]

I encountered this issue, too. It is good that Cura includes eSun PLA+ as default materials. But it is bad that Cura always show "Not supported" for it in recent Cura releases.

 

I believe it is a program mistake..... but the Ultimaker team usually don't admit they made mistakes. So, the best way is to find a workaround by yourself e.g. don't use "+" symbol.

 

[iPa 3]

That is one of the most stupid thing I have never seen !
Why there is some materials if you can not use it !!!!

I spend a lot of times to understand this stupid behavior.

Not supported

Not supported

...

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by iPa

[sol095 1]

I believe that for any custom material made or added to Cura, (for example I added colorFabb's LW-PLA) it should add just fine without the "not supported" material profile as long as the material type box is the same as one of the generic materials. That is the material type for the custom added material should be ABS, CPE, HIPS, Nylon, PC, PETG, PLA, PVA, or TPU 95A. Otherwise you would need to make a new printer profile from scratch. At least this worked for me. Cura 4.10.0

[davidewen 0]

I have found a permanent workaround / fix to this problem.

 

Create a "custom" printer instead of using a pre-set from the list.

I have an Ender 6, so I initially used the Ender 5 pre-set, but ran into these problems as well.

I attempted to modify the .cfg files, but that did not work.

So I decided to create a new printer for testing purposes, and I chose "custom".

The Creality settings are no longer there, but you can always copy/create new settings that match those.

The settings available are:

1. Extra Fine - 0.06
2. Fine - 0.1
3. Normal - 0.15
4. Draft - 0.2
5. Extra Fast - 0.3
6. Coarse - 0.4
7. Extra Coarse - 0.6

I added / created Fast - 0.28 as that seems to produce very good quality prints for me.

 

Now new materials are available and "Not Supported" no longer displays.

[GoguyT3d 8]

Thank you @davidewen! I have always prayed that ultimaker would fix this problem for printers like our creality who might have an aftermarket hotend that can print other materials (almost everyone does) but they never fixed it so I was always making my materials listed as pla but saved as something else (SO annoying) glad someone has tinkered enough to find the workaround. I'll be making a new printer right now.

[gpatrucco 0]

On 12/5/2020 at 8:07 PM, Longtoke said:

 

To update this thread post and as a reply to your question, as far as I understand this issue, its due to the way Cura is structured and related to material  profiles. Early on there was a phase were you could do custom materials without  restriction, this was later identified by Cura devs to be a mistake apparently, so they changed it to how it is now. 

 

AFAIK, there are no plans to make material profiles more flexible or give similar functionality to what we had, the best solution is to use work arounds or stick to default materials. 

I found that if you just change the "brand" to Generic then add eSun to the Display Name, it automatically allowed me to choose the material using the imported profile.

 

Hope this helps as well.

[brzasshopper 1]

I just ran into this yet again.  I am a hobbyist who has used several slicers. all my old printers wtere destroyed when my house was vandalized while I was in the hospital.  I just got around to buying a new one, and I'm trying to print on a Creality K1.  My point is that I'm not an expert but I have  built my own height sensor out of an altoids can and a microswitch.

 

And I'm trying to print with Amazon Basics TPU.  And that opened up the whole above can of worms.

 

I get that the way the program works is "Technically correct" which, contrary to memes, is not the best kind of correct.  But, in fact your program is not technically correct.  The way it operates violates the principle of least surprise.  And the message makes one think that there 

 

Far as I can tell, all the quality settings are is a way of setting a bunch of parameters at once.  One can then pick and choose.  Or one can make all the same settings manually.

 

So how about this.  I'm the person who owns the printer.  I know you let me use the slicer that you wrote so that people could use Ultimaker printers and I thank you.  I thank you that my PLA suppotys come 100% clean, and my TPU supports come off 98% clean.  Way better than it used to be. My dilemma is that the generic TPU profile forces the heated bed temps to be zero in the material setting.  I create a generic material type and wham, the quality settings go away.

 

And the message does not explain why.  I don't think this only affects non-Ultimaker printer users.

 

Can you explain why "Generic TPU 95a" gets to use the profiles but a filament I define (rather than just printing it as generic) doesn't?  I might not get a good print - heck, I might misidentify filament amd get a bad print.

 

Let me have control.  Give me a warning, Threaten me with loss of my firstborn and galloping dandruff or whatever, but face it, if you are making quality suggestions for "generic PLA" or Generic TPU and claiming that those same settings don't apply to any custom filament I create, well, that seems silly.  The settings won't guarantee a good print, they are a starting point, and IMHO what you should do is give me a warning and then let me do as I will in a fashion that is most convenient for me.]

 

Face it, many people want to do this.  It comes up over and over, every couple months.  You think that there are not many users who read this, go, ""Really?  Sigh."    

 

It just seems like something you should five in on.

[Slashee_the_Cow 619]

@brzasshopper Any filament which is based on a generic filament that Cura has built in profiles for for that printer will have access to the same profiles as the generic as long as you don't change the "Material type" value. If a printer (or in some cases it's shared between all printers from a manufacturer) doesn't have quality profiles built in for a particular material type, quality profiles should show up as "not supported" (you can still print with it though).

 

In your case I would just create a material based on the generic TPU (in the material manager open your base material, click the three lines icon and select Duplicate). Now as long as you don't change the material type, you can play with the display name and settings all you want.

 

If you really want to create your own generic version of a material and would like to have generic profiles premade, you'd need to go into the Cura installation folder, find the material definitions for that printer and material, make a copy of them in the Cura configuration folder, change the filenames and the name of the material in the files.

 

If you'd like to suggest a better system for working with it, the feature request form is here. Just a heads up though, the developers are pretty overworked as it is, so stuff like this can take a while to get worked on (if they choose to work on it) as it's not an essential feature.

 

Also worth noting is that if you install the "Material Settings" plugin then when setting up quality profiles you can right click a setting a choose "Use value from material". That way when you select your material the quality profile will automatically update with the correct values.

 

2 hours ago, brzasshopper said:

My dilemma is that the generic TPU profile forces the heated bed temps to be zero in the material setting.

That sounds like either you don't have Heated bed enabled in your machine settings or an error in the material definition that should be fixed (bug report form).

 

2 hours ago, brzasshopper said:

Face it, many people want to do this.  It comes up over and over, every couple months.  You think that there are not many users who read this, go, ""Really?  Sigh." 

As a proportion of the total Cura user base, very few people want to do this. Power users are happy to set up their own materials. Less experienced users are happy to use the generics, the definitions which ship with Cura, or what they can download from the Marketplace. I'm not saying this just because I lurk on the forums where people tend to ask for these sorts of things; UltiMaker use the optional anonymous usage data to see how many people use what features to know where to focus their efforts.